Giving Up the Gun
by Susan strong
Summary: This is a one-shot. What if everything that happened to Rick and his people wasn't real? What if Rick had been in the coma the entire time, experiencing some kind of strange dream where the dead came back to life?


**Author's Note:**

 **This idea kinda came into my head one day. Some of the characters who are, or were mentioned, in my story 'Silhouette' will be in this story. I hope you all enjoy this, and have a fantastic new year.**

 **Leave a helpful and kind review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**

* * *

There was a distant sound of beeping, something Rick couldn't quite understand. He could feel a dull ache on his body—his mind was foggy, he couldn't understand what was happening. Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was in a white room, that constant beeping sound was right beside him. Slowly looking over, he saw a heart monitor and other machines, an IV was hooked up in his arm, and that dull ache was from a wound.

 _What the Hell—?_ he thought. His breathing was shallow, but it was quickening in a slight panic.

"Oh, Mr. Grimes!" a woman's voice exclaimed. Turning his head slightly, he saw a young woman with crystal blue eyes standing in the doorway of his room. She looked genuinely surprised. "I-I'll go get the doctor!" she exclaimed.

"Wait," he whispered, his voice struggling to get out, sounding hoarse despite it being a whisper. But it was too late, she was already gone. There had been something about that woman that felt familiar—it was her eyes that stood out the most, that crystal blue. He felt like it was supposed to mean something, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Well, when Selena said you had woken up, I almost didn't believe her." Rick turned his head again to see a man standing at the doorway, that woman—Selena—standing a little behind him. "I'm Dr. Steven Edwards. How are you feeling, Mr. Grimes?"

Rick swallowed thickly, his throat feeling dry and scratchy. "W-What happened?" he rasped.

"You were shot, out in the field," Dr. Edwards said, looking at a clipboard. "Can you tell me your first name?"

Closing his eyes, Rick let out a shaky breath. "Rick."

"Do you remember what kind of job you have?"

Rick's face contorted a little into a scowl. "A policeman."

Dr. Edwards nodded. "That's good," he murmured. "Do you remember the name of your wife and son?"

Rick looked at the doctor. "Lori and Carl," he murmured after a minute. There was a twinge of some unexplained emotion at the mention of his wife. _Grief?_ Rick's brows furrowed.

"Good." Dr. Edwards nodded. "They visited every day—your wife and son. Your friend, too. He brought you in here. Do you remember his name?"

"Shane," Rick said, swallowing thickly. "Can I have some water?"

Dr. Edwards nodded to Selena, who hurried to get a cup of water.

"Mr. Grimes, do you know what happened after your accident?"

"I—I fell asleep or something," Rick groaned, the aching intensifying a little. "I don't know."

"You were in a coma," Dr. Edwards said slowly, "for almost a year."

Rick's eyes widened. _A coma_?! No...that couldn't be right! _Being in a coma for almost a year_?! How could that even happen from a gunshot wound?! How could that even happen _at all_?!

 **~Giving Up the Gun~**

After Dr. Edwards and Selena—after delivering him his water—left, Rick was left alone with his thoughts. There had been an examination of his condition, and everything seemed just fine for the most part. Dr. Edwards said he'd contact Lori and Carl, and Rick suggested calling Shane, too. There was something that just didn't feel right. That Selena woman seemed too familiar. He felt like he'd seen her before. Rick had gone to the hospital plenty of times when Shane got a little too out of control and hurt himself—was that where he saw her? He shook his head. Rick didn't even feel like he'd been in a coma. Well, that was a lie—it definitely _felt_ like he'd been in a coma, but there was something else there, some kind of lingering thought in the back of his mind.

A soft knock on the door interrupted Rick's troubled thoughts.

"Mr. Grimes, Dr. Edwards wanted me to tell you that your family's on their way here." A middle aged nurse stood at the foot of his bed. Rick nodded.

"Could I ask something?" he murmured.

The nurse nodded, giving a comforting smile.

"Is it possible to dream when you're in a coma?"

"It could be possible," she said. "I've heard stories of coma patients having visions of sorts, or maybe they heard the conversations of those around them. Why?"

"I think I had some kind of dream." Rick closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I can't really remember it. I might, but—Is my wife really alive?"

The nurse's warm smile faltered, a look of concern sweeping across her face. "She is. Dr. Edwards spoke to her over the phone. Is there something wrong?"

"No.—Yes.—I don't know." Rick let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm fine, I'm sorry."

 **~Giving Up the Gun~**

Rick tried getting some sleep, but he just couldn't get himself to do so. Finding out he'd been in a coma for nearly a year made him feel a little anxious to close his eyes again. But he tried. When he did, he saw some kind of weird, fuzzy image in the back of his eyelids. He could've _sworn_ he heard a baby's cries, and when the image cleared, he saw three people—one of them being Carl, wearing his father's sheriff hat—with their arms, up to their elbows, in blood, with one of them holding a baby in their arms. He hadn't felt such fear and horror in his life.

 _'Where is she?'_ Was that his voice? Who were they looking for?

Rick's eyes shot open, his breathing becoming labored. He could faintly hear the heart monitor beeping wildly. Taking a minute to calm himself down, Rick let out a frustrated sigh. That felt too real, too personal. He couldn't understand why that was there or where it came from, and it frightened him to know that something like that lingered in his mind.

 **~Giving Up the Gun~**

It took about two hours for Lori, Carl, and Shane to show up. Lori and Carl were teary-eyed as they saw Rick looking back at them. They tried to hug him as gently as possible, happy to see him alive and well. Shane had given Rick a pat on the shoulder, nodding in acknowledgment. The two men shared a look.

"Could I speak to Shane?" Rick murmured to his wife. "Just for a minute."

Giving him a peck on the cheek, Lori gave a hesitant nod before leading their son out of the room.

"Something wrong, man?" Shane murmured.

"I had some kind of dream—or nightmare, I don't know—that had something to do with Lori getting killed."

Shane's brows knitted together. "Killed?" he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"I _know_ something like that happened—some weird nightmare where I was terrified all the time," Rick stuttered. "There—There was a baby. I could hear it crying and there were other people there too. One of them was Carl. The baby—I couldn't find Lori, or I knew something happened to her and I just couldn't accept it—I-I don't know. But I was terrified and I just can't explain it." Rick grimaced. "There was something important about that baby."

Shane pulled one of the chairs to Rick's bedside, looking at his friend with seriousness and fear. Rick couldn't quite understand why Shane would look fearful, maybe it was the way he was talking.

"You've been through a lot," Shane muttered. "Don't overwork yourself, OK? You're awake, that's important."

Rick nodded.

"Whatever this bullshit was, it ain't important." Shane shrugged. "Shit like that never happens. It was some fucked up dream." Shane put a comforting hand on Rick's shoulder. "You fought and you survived," he sighed. "That's all that matters."

 _'If y'all wanna live, if you wanna survive, you gotta fight for it!'_

Rick's eyes looked at Shane carefully. There was something that just wasn't making sense.

 **~Giving Up the Gun~**

Shane, Lori, and Carl spent hours in Rick's hospital room, Carl telling his father everything that's happened since Rick fell into a coma; Lori filling in a few details; Shane stood a little off to the side, watching the interaction closely. Rick could sense something radiating off Shane, and that feeling made Rick's stomach knot up. The feeling was similar to anger, maybe even jealousy.

Since Lori and Carl had returned into the hospital room, Shane hadn't said much, mostly letting Lori and Carl do the talking, but Rick couldn't help but glance back at Shane every now and again, trying to understand why he felt like that.

After a while, that Selena woman told the others it was time to go, and with Lori and Carl leaving with some tearful goodbyes.

 **~Giving Up the Gun~**

"How are you feeling, Mr. Grimes?" Dr. Edwards asked the next morning. Rick had been told he'd be staying in the hospital for a couple more days so the doctors could keep an eye on his condition.

"Better." Rick tried for a smile. He didn't really feel all that better, but there was some kind of improvement compared to the day before. His throat didn't feel so dry and scratchy, that achiness had been dulled from the medication he was given. Even though he'd been in a coma for nearly a year, and with the wound having healed up already, Rick still felt the lingering pain from it.

"That's good." Dr. Edwards wrote something down before having one of the nurses who accompanied him check on Rick's vitals. "I'm gonna write you a prescription for some medication once you leave—some medicine to help you sleep, maybe some pain medicine if you need it."

Rick nodded.

"You've been having trouble sleeping?"

"Just woke up from a coma, sleeping doesn't really sound that appetizing," Rick said, giving a humorless chuckle.

The doctor gave Rick a small, apologetic smile. "I'll prescribe the sleep medicine, it'll help you get a full night's rest. I won't give you a high dosage, your body should have a chance to adjust."

Rick nodded again. He sighed.

When Dr. Edwards left, Rick was left alone. Lori and Carl hadn't come to visit, so he could only assume they'd be visiting later on that day. As for Shane, he wasn't entirely sure, but Rick could only assume Shane might visit later.

There was still that feeling that lingered from the day before, that terrified feeling. He'd still have flashes of those bloodied women and Carl, with that crying baby in one of the women's arms. He couldn't understand why it was so important.

Rick had been thankful that his rest the previous night had been a dreamless one. He wasn't sure how he'd be able to handle another weird nightmarish experience like that.

Thankfully, Lori and Carl dropped by to keep Rick company. Lori had said that after picking Carl up from school, they went and bought him flowers and some food, nothing too extreme. He was to have his family there, not only to show their support, but to keep his mind occupied for the time being.

 **~Giving Up the Gun~**

Soon, the days started to go by, then came the day where Rick was released from the hospital. He hadn't been more thankful in his life. After his IV had been taken out, he'd been bandaged up and unhooked from all those monitors, Lori and Carl helped him out of the hospital bed.

"You should probably use the wheelchair," Selena offered. She had been helping him the most since he woke up. Selena had the wheelchair placed firmly at the side of his bed.

"I'll be fine—" Putting his weight on his legs, he could feel them trembling and most of his weight shifting to one side. Giving an almost shameful smile Selena's way, he was carefully led to the wheelchair.

"Dr. Edwards already put in the prescription for your medication," Selena told the small family. She shot a warm smile Rick's way. "Take care, Mr. Grimes."

Right as Lori was about to wheel her husband out of the hospital room, Rick made her stop, catching Selena before she was gone.

"Have we ever met before?" he asked.

Selena's brows furrowed, her crystal blue eyes looking at Rick curiously. "I don't think so," she said. "I just started working at this hospital over six months ago."

Rick nodded. "Sorry, there's something about you that's familiar."

Waving it off, Selena gave a chuckle. "It's fine."

"Could I at least get your full name?"

"Selena Giovanni."

 _'She's my cousin—I was on my way to Atlanta to find her when I found y'all.'_

Trying for a smile, Rick nodded and murmured a _'thank you'_ Selena's way.

 **~Giving Up the Gun~**

Because Carl had started complaining about being hungry, the small family settled for going to the hospital cafeteria to get some food for all of them. With Lori's help, Rick was able to sit himself down at the table they chose while she and Carl went off to go get their food.

"How bad was it?" a woman's voice asked.

Looking over, Rick saw a petite woman with a very swollen belly waddling over to the table beside his. She was wheeling a stroller with a little girl with big brown eyes. The pregnant woman had her hair styled in a pixie cut, her skin colored with a light tan that came naturally. Pulling out one of the chairs, the woman carefully sat herself down, one hand holding her swollen belly.

"I'm sorry?" he asked.

The woman gave a slightly apologetic smile. "Sorry," she said. "I just got back from an ultrasound. My cousin works here, tellin' me all kinds of stories about the patients. I tend to overstep my boundaries sometimes."

Rick shook his head. "I was shot," he said simply, "ended up in a coma."

The woman's eyes widened a little. "God, I am so sorry," she said. He could hear the sincerity in her voice, making him smile a little.

"How far along are you?" he asked.

The woman rubbed her belly absentmindedly. "Goin' on eight months in two weeks," she sighed. She chuckled. "I really want this pregnancy to be over, to be honest."

"Your second?"

She nodded. "I have a son," she said. "He'll be goin' on eleven soon."

Rick's brows furrowed in confusion, glancing at the stroller beside her.

"Oh." Her brows shot up. "She's not my biological child, I adopted her. Don't matter if I didn't give birth to her, though, I still consider her mine."

"The father's still around?"

"This baby's Daddy is." She gave her stomach a pat. "My son's father ran out when he found out I was pregnant."

Rick nodded. "You said your son's turning eleven soon?"

The woman gave a humorless chuckle. "Got pregnant at sixteen. Can't say gettin' pregnant so young was smart, but my boy's healthy and that's all that matters."

In a matter of seconds, a young boy, just younger than Carl, quickly walked over to where the woman was sitting. The boy put some food in front of his mother, earning a kiss on the cheek from her.

After the boy came a guy that made Rick unconsciously stiffen. The man was wearing a sleeveless shirt with old, ripped blue jeans; his hair was kind of long and shaggy; his facial hair was pronounced, but not out of control. The man looked like the typical Southern backwoods redneck.

"Ya feelin' alright?" the man grunted.

"I'm fine, I was just chattin' with my new friend." The woman shot a friendly smile Rick's way. The man shot a look Rick's way. "Oh hush up and eat."

"Ya gotta name?" the man said, his voice gruff.

"Rick."

He nodded.

"I'm Aibileen," the woman said, rolling her eyes jokingly. " _That guy_ is my fiancé, Daryl. Then my kids, Jamie and Francesca."

Daryl gave a light scoff at what Aibileen said.

"Aibileen—I've never heard of a name like that."

"Named after my Granny."

 _'Named after my Granny.'_

A flash of familiarity went through Rick. The voice that rang in his head sounded similar to Aibileen's, only more cynical, pained even. Not only that, Rick found himself remembering the flash of the bloodied women—had Aibileen been one of them?

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Rick shot a smile their way.

 **~Giving Up the Gun~**

By the time Rick made it home, he was exhausted. His medicine had been picked up and he had been taken to the living room, where he carefully laid himself down. He couldn't make himself lay in another bed. Looking over, he saw his favorite recliner chair. His cop uniform had been folded neatly on the seat; his gun, still in its holster, was on the table beside it. Carefully standing up, Rick went over and picked up his gun. There was something about that gun that made a heaviness weigh down on him. Looking at it, there was almost a sense of loss coming from it, like he left something behind.

Gently placing the gun down, Rick felt as if he were putting to rest some other part of himself.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I hope you appreciated this one-shot. Sorry it took so long to put up, my internet was down for a little while. Anywho, I wish you all a wonderful New Year!**

 **TWD isn't mine, I only own my characters and fillers, everything else belongs to the creators of the franchise.**

 **Leave a helpful and kind review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


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